Latin

Los Alegres del Barranco was supposed to perform at Chicago’s Michelada Fest this summer — but after the U.S. government cancelled the group’s visas when they displayed images of a cartel leader at a show in Guadalajara, Fernando Nieto and his team quickly pivoted to replace the Mexican band with Gabito Ballesteros.

A month later, on May 6, event organizers announced that the two-day festival — set to be headlined by Grupo Firme, Anitta and Luis R Conriquez — was cancelled over artist visa “uncertainty” under the Trump administration, and a “rapidly changing political climate,” they said in a statement.

Nieto, co-founder of Michelada Fest (Big Indie produces the festival alongside Zamora Live and Viva tu Música), tells Billboard that the visa situation for regional Mexican artists happened “abruptly,” to the point that they had to cancel the entire event.

“It seemed at first that Los Alegres was an isolated event but we’ve seen enough over the last few weeks for us to have to make this difficult decision,” he explains. “I can’t comment on a specific artist or whether it’s a pending or revoked visa, but as a small business we needed to make the responsible decision not only for our company but also our consumers. We didn’t feel confident we could give them a complete event between now and July.”

Michelada Fest is perhaps the biggest event to date to cancel over visa issues and uncertainty under the Trump administration, which launched an aggressive crackdown on immigration on day one of the president’s second term in office. The Cinco de Mayo festival in Chicago’s La Villita neighborhood was cancelled over fear of ICE raids. Billboard previously reported how Trump’s immigration policies could impact Latin music, with promoters seeing certain markets being impacted with low attendance.

Now, in a plot twist of sorts and adding to the uncertainty of it all, regional Mexican artists who sing or have sung narcocorridos are under the spotlight, with Mexican states cracking down on banning the style of music, and the U.S. government not only taking notice, but acting on it too. It’s a major blow to the genre, which has only grown significantly in popularity and exposure over the past few years.

“We had been taking everything day by day, a lot of our vendors were also asking what would happen if ICE showed up — that’s what we were focused on,” Nieto says. “Never did we think that it would go from our people being targeted to now our culture also being targeted. I did not see it going this way at all.”

Just last year, Miche Fest — which was launched by locals as a street festival — held its biggest edition to date, taking place for the first time in Chicago’s Oakwood Beach, with superstar headliners Kali Uchis, Junior Hand Los Ángeles Azules. 

Below, Nieto reflects to Billboard about the team’s decision to cancel this year’s Michelada Fest, and discusses what comes next.

What was your thought process throughout all of this, which ultimately led to cancelling Michelada Fest?

First and foremost, we want to treat consumers with respect. We’ve been doing this for eight years now, we started as a street festival and our fans have been there since day one. The last thing we want to do is put their money at risk. We felt the best thing we could do was to be transparent about what’s going on. Our consumer [base] works extremely hard for their dollars, and especially right now, we’re living in a time where everything is more expensive — not just on the events side, but the daily cost of living… That’s why we’re doing a 100% refund instead of saying your ticket will be good for next year.

What does not having a Michelada Fest this summer mean for Chicago’s Latin festival scene?

We’re leaving a major gaping hole in the Chicago summer season. We feature a bunch of small businesses, merch vendors, local food vendors, and we were about to announce a stage to highlight local Chicago artists — and that’s not taking into account the impact that we have financially when it comes to stimulating the economy through small businesses.

For a lot of our vendors — and I’m talking about the generator company, security company — we’re their biggest contract of the year. We have a $9 million dollar operating budget for our event. And unfortunately I had to make really difficult calls over the past few days to tell them the news, and now they’re trying to find another big [gig] for the year. There’re so many layers to the impact this festival has, from artists to small businesses and a cultural impact. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it was the responsible thing to do.

Michelada Fest is the biggest event to cancel because of the political climate …

We were the first major event to really make a statement — and I hope no one else has to deal with this, but a lot of visas are pending, tours are getting pushed back. There’s so much uncertainty.

What’s next for Michelada Fest?

We’re going to take the next few months to regroup and strategize, maintain the trust [with our base] and have a major comeback next year. Chicagoans know we’re a grassroots organization that started as a street festival by a bunch of South Siders. At the end of the day, they deserve this transparency. It only sets us up for a bigger year next year.

Michelada Fest, set to take place in Chicago July 19-20, has been cancelled, organizers announced on Tuesday (May 6).

“Due to the uncertainty surrounding artist visas and the rapidly changing political climate, we’re no longer able to guarantee the full experience we had dreamed up for you with all your favorite artists,” the statement issued on Tuesday reads. “Although we tried to push through, it became clear that we wouldn’t be able to deliver the full lineup as planned.”

Set to be headlined by Grupo Firme, Luis R Conriquez, Anitta and Danny Ocean, Michelada Fest — co-produced by Big Indie, Zamora Live and Viva Tu Musica — cancels amid an ongoing conversation about how the Trump administration’s immigration policies could continue to impact the live music industry, particularly in Latin music spaces. Meanwhile, Mexican artists who sing narcocorridos have been under the spotlight recently with Mexican states cracking down on banning the style of music. The U.S. government has taken a stance on the situation as well, to the point of cancelling visas for Los Alegres del Barranco.

“This was not an easy decision for us to make,” the statement continues. “For seven years, we’ve poured everything into this festival to create something truly special for our community. Last year was our most incredible celebration yet, and we were ready to make this year even bigger, with more energy, creativity, and corazón. But as independent organizers, we can’t afford to take on a big risk with so much uncertainty ahead.

“We’re heartbroken by the greater impact this will have on our involved community, with ripple effects reaching our neighborhoods, local economy and the culture we’ve built together. But despite this setback, we remain committed to our values. Michelada Fest will always be a safe place where our community comes together, united by pride and love of our culture and music. That won’t ever change. We’ll keep showing up, giving back, and uplifting our people in every way we can.”

Michelada Fest most recently held its inaugural edition in El Paso, Texas, where artists like Netón Vega, Snow Tha Product and Tito Torbellino Jr., among others, performed.